3 Ways to Propagate your Spider Plant Babies

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You have this great spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum) that started to throw out all these Spider Plant babies, which are now dangling from their mother plant.
What to do next? How to propagate your spiderettes?

First of all, you don’t need to do anything.

You can just leave them there. They will grow and can later even have babies of their own, cascading all the way down. But if you are anything like me, you want to grow at least a few new Spider Plants from its plantlets.

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Three different ways you can propagate your Spider Plant Babies

The Spider Plant is very easy to take care of. Great for beginner plant parents, or if you don’t like to spend too much time on your plant.

Add to that that it purifies the air like a champion, and is non-toxic to pets. And with the way it grows its babies, the spider plant is also super easy to propagate.

When to propagate your baby spider plants

When your spider plant matures, it will send out multiple runners with delicate white flowers on the ends. These small flowers will become the new little plants.

First, do a little happy dance. Second, try to be patient. Let the babies grow a bit before doing anything.

After a while, you will start seeing small nubs appearing on the bottom of the plantlets. These are aerial starter roots. You want these.

Now you can start thinking about how you want to grow your new spider plants. Do you root them in water first? Of dive right in and put them straight into the soil? Or go for the striking visual of potting them, but leaving them attached to the mother plant.

Whichever way you choose, make sure to give the plantlets adequate bright, but indirect sunlight. No full sun!

The spider plant is a great plant when you want to try propagating for the first time. The baby spiders, hanging from the mother plant, are basically complete plants already. Just miniature versions.

Ways to propagate your spider plant

1. Propagate in water

When you propagate in water, you’re letting the roots grow first, before transferring the plantlets to soil.

Start by carefully removing the spider plant babies from the mother plant. Cut them from the long stems they’re hanging onto. At this point, you can decide to cut away the entire runner from the mother plant. But if you don’t mind it, just leave it. New babies can still come from it.

Next, place the babies in a small glass vessel with a little bit of water. You want the water to only cover the roots of the baby plant.

Leave them for about a week. Make sure to keep the water clean by changing it regularly. Once the plantlets develop good roots you can transfer them to a small pot with well-draining soil.

2. Plant baby spider plant directly in soil

The simplest way to propagate the spider plant is just to cut off the babies and plant them directly into the soil in their own pots.

This way it could take a little longer for the plantlet to settle in, and show new growth. But that is nothing to worry about. Your plant is working on its root system first. Until you see new leafs appearing, keep the soil slightly moist, but not too wet.

3. Root spider plant babies in soil while still attached to the mother plant

When you think of it, keeping the plantlets attached to the mother plant is most like how they grow in the wild.
The mother pushes out the long stems and grows her babies all around her. The babies hang down and come in contact with the soil. So they root right there next to the mother.

To mimic this, don’t cut them loose. Just put the baby spider in a small pot filled with moist soil next to the mother plant. Don’t pot it too deeply. Only the starter roots need to touch the soil.
This way, the plantlet gets strength from its own soil, and, at the same time, is still being cared for through the stem by the mother.

Wait until the baby starts to show new growth, then cut it away from the parent.

Final quick tip: Plant a few babies together in one pot for an instantly fuller look.

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